Google is offering a static library that will enable third-party Android …

In a post on the Android developer blog, Google has announced the availability of a new static library for Android developers that provides a more portable implementation of the Fragments API. This will allow third-party Android application developers to take advantage of Fragments without having to sacrifice backwards compatibility with existing Android handsets.

Google recently launched Android 3.0, codenamed Honeycomb, a significant new tablet-optimized version of its Linux-based mobile operating system. Among the major features introduced in the update is an assortment of new APIs that aim to make it easier for third-party application developers to build Android applications that work seamlessly across multiple form factors—such as tablets and smartphones.

One of the most significant new features of that nature is the Fragments API, which makes it possible to define pieces of an Android user interface in modular blocks that can be arranged appropriately at runtime depending on screen size, orientation, and other conditions.

Although Fragments are extremely compelling, adoption among developers was initially hindered by the fact that the feature isn't natively backwards compatible with previous versions of the Android operating system. Fragments require developers to target API-level 11, which means that the feature will only work on devices that ship with Honeycomb. This obviously posed serious challenges for developers who want their applications to work on existing Android handsets.

When Google engineer Dianne Hackborn posted an introduction to Fragments on the Android developer blog last month, she explained that Google hoped to offer a standalone library for the feature so that it could be used on older versions of the Android operating system and deployed as part of an application. The new static library released last week delivers exactly that. It includes the Fragments API along with other useful bits of relevant functionality. Google is deploying it in an "Android Compatibility Package" through the SDK updater.

This may seem like trivial technical minutiae, but it has some noteworthy implications for Android tablet users. By mitigating the trepidation over backwards compatibility issues, it will encourage third-party application developers to start transitioning their software to the new tablet-friendly APIs. Developers won't have to build two separate applications in order to support Honeycomb tablets alongside existing smartphones.

Another nice advantage of the new library is that it will make it easier for developers to get their new tablet-friendly applications running on legacy Android tablets that don't run Honeycomb—such as the Galaxy Tab and the upcoming HTC Flyer.

The diversity of the Android ecosystem often attracts complaints about fragmentation. As we explained when we looked at the issue last year, Google has measures in place that encourage application compatibility across devices, but the version spread poses fundamental challenges. Making new APIs available in backwards-compatible static libraries could help remedy that problem. It obviously won't be possible to do that for the full scope of new developer features, but it can clearly be made to work for must-have features like the Fragments API.